This application is a substitute for U.S. Ser. No. 795,910 filed Nov. 7, 1985 which application is now abandoned.
A rather sizeable expense for railroads is the maintenance of grade crossings that are provided with crossing gates, since it is not uncommon for vehicles to drive through the crossing even though the crossing gate is down blocking the crossing. This of course usually results in the crossing arm being damaged or broken and needing repair or replacement. Railroads thus incur a substantial expense in repairing these crossing gates, and more importantly a railroad can be held liable for an accident that occurs at the grade crossing because a damaged or broken crossing gate has not been promptly repaired. The resulting liability can be substantial. It is therefore extremely important that crossing gates be repaired or replaced as soon as possible. Merely learning that a crossing gate has been damaged can be a practical problem.
To avoid the expense and potential liability resulting from damaged crossing gates, it would therefore be highly desirable if a crossing gate could be designed that would be practically indestructible while still providing the function of blocking the grade crossing and warning motorists of an oncoming or passing train. A crossing gate that would survive impact of a vehicle from either direction and remain operable so as to serve its warning function would greatly reduce the cost of replacing and repairing crossing gates, and more importantly, would greatly reduce the potential liability of railroads that fail to immediately repair damaged crossing gates.